Company Incorporation Germany

If you are a foreign investor and wish to consider German company formation, you have a broad spectrum of options. You could take a cautious view and start with a one-person sales office based within a serviced office (we can help you with this). If it doesn’t work out, you can easily withdraw without having invested very much capital.

Or you could have the courage of your convictions, and set up business in Germany in a manner that makes it clear that you really mean business. Our German company formation service makes it easy for you to establish whatever kind of company you want, from a Sole Trader through to a Partnership or Corporation.

You certainly can. This is a popular move for foreign companies that aren’t quite certain about their long-term commitment but are keen to set up business in Germany. All you need to do if you want to establish a Branch is to register with the commercial register and the local trade office.

Bear in mind however – the parent company retains full responsibility for the Branch on all legal and tax matters. Look at our tax planning section to see how our panel of tax specialists can help you navigate your way through Germany’s complex fiscal laws.

Germany is famed for the excellence of its technical training and apprenticeships are the norm in most industrial sectors. There is no shortage of qualified staff in most areas, particularly in the east of the country and in the Ruhr where unemployment is high.

Most companies advertise jobs at the local government-run employment exchange but for specialist staff and senior management, you would be better advised to use an executive search agency. Please contact us for information about our recruitment service.

Businesses are heavily regulated, this is particularly true in the case of listed AG companies, but all companies large and small have to comply with detailed requirements laid out by the authorities.

Government bodies oversee the activities of financial institutions such as banks and insurance offices, while most other industries are grouped around associations that regulate what their members can and cannot do.

It is important to tread carefully in this territory – contact us to see how our local advisers can help with your German incorporation.

The federal government offers a wide range of incentive programmes, including loans and grants, depending on the nature of the company and its intended location. Some areas offer capital investment grants of up to 50% to SMEs.

It is also worth noting that local government incentives may be offered in the form of beneficial tax rates but these are not generally available in the major cities.

Germany has world-class international banking facilities and the first step to setting up business in Germany should be to open a local bank account – we can arrange this for you.

Branch and Subsidiary Information

Open a Branch in Germany

In terms of economy Germany is a good choice for foreign investors to establish a branch. Incorporation of the branch is similar to that of German resident companies, although the registration procedure is slightly longer. The branch must take the name of the parent company with its legal form attached to the end i.e. branch or German branch.

Open a Subsidiary in Germany

Germany has a central location in Europe as well as a strong economy which makes it conducive to business. Trade and commerce in the country is regulated by the Commercial Code (HGB) and the Civil Code (BGB). Foreign subsidiaries are treated equally with domicile companies, but special authorisation may be required for particular trades.

The information and any commentary on the law contained on this website is provided for information and guidance purposes only. Every reasonable effort is made to make the information and commentary accurate and up to date, but no responsibility for its accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying upon it is assumed by Open A European Company, its directors , employees or associated websites.

The information and commentary on Open A European Company’s site does not, and is not intended to amount to legal advice to any third party on a specific case or matter. You are strongly recommended to obtain specific, direct legal advice from professional advisers whether these be your own advisers or those that appear on the OpenAeuropeancompany.com site. You should consider taking advice both in the country in which you are domiciled and in the country in which you are seeking to open a company. and not to rely on the information or comments on this site.

Universal Company Incorporations Ltd, herein known as UCI Ltd, will be what’s known as the ‘Controller’ of the personal data you provide to us.

UCI Ltd is a holding company which encompasses the following websites: Open A European Company.com, Start An American Company.com, Open A Dubai Company.com, Start an Australian Company.com, Open A German Company.com, Open An Italian Company.com and Readymade Companies Worldwide.com. By submitting your data, you agree that UCI Ltd can send you promotional materials on behalf of and relating to these subsidiaries.

We only collect basic personal data about you, which does not include any special types of information or location based information. This does however include your name, email, phone number etc.

Why we need it

We need to know your basic personal data in order to provide you with information on our services, offers and discounts, and news pertaining to those services.

We will not collect any personal data from you that we do not need in order to provide this service to you.

What we do with it

All the personal data we process is handled by our staff in the UK. However for the purposes of IT hosting and maintenance, this information is located on servers within the United States. This data is protected by the EU-US Privacy Shield, ensuring that your information is stored and treated with equivalent privacy and security laws.

This information is stored in a secure account on Mailchimp, an email marketing service. Mailchimp cannot use your data for their own marketing or promotional purposes, and no 3rd parties have access to your personal data unless the law allows them to do so.

As part of our integrated email marketing service, we also collect information on user interaction. This includes collecting data on actions such as opening the newsletter or clicking on links within the newsletter, which is then used to optimise future marketing materials.

We have a Data Protection regime in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your personal data. More information on this framework can be found on our website.

How long we keep it for

Your data stored for marketing purposes will be kept with us until you notify us that you no longer wish to receive this information. You can do this by contacting us, or by clicking ‘unsubscribe’ at the bottom of our marketing emails.

More information on our retention schedule can be found in our longform privacy policy.

What are your rights?

If at any point you believe the information we process on you is incorrect, you can request to see this information, and even have it corrected or deleted.

If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact our Data Protection Officer who will investigate the matter.

If you are not satisfied with our response, or believe we are processing your personal data not in accordance with the law, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Our Data Protection Officer is Heather Landau, and you can contact them here.